“Come here, baby.” Keeping him occupied should help his brain to settle down, so I charged right in.
Standing behind him, I wrapped my arms around him and turned on the water. If the position felt intimate, I did my best to ignore it as I washed his hands. Joseph’s color went back to normal as soon as I charged in and started getting him ready. My reactions were a clear influence on his, so I let him see how much I loved taking care of him and just tried to do my best to keep any tension off my face.
Just because his ass was nestled entirely too close to my dick didn’t mean a damned thing and I was going to do my best to ensure he wasn’t made uncomfortable by my reactions.
When his hands were clean and dry, I opened the bag and reached for his toothbrush. His brows pulled together in the cutest confusion as I got it ready and brought it to his mouth. When he realized I had every intention of brushing his teeth, the blush started creeping over his cheeks again.
I raised one eyebrow as our eyes met in the mirror, but he just took a deep breath and leaned into me, opening his mouth. I ran my free hand over his chest. “Good boy.”
It was clearly intimate in a way he’d never explored with anyone else. He closed his eyes and I knew he was trying to relax, but nothing he did helped the blush that kept him looking so cute. I took things slowly and did my best to let him get comfortable with the sensation of someone else brushing his teeth. I wanted him to know that caring for him was a big part of what a relationship would be with a Daddy. To me, it was the small, intimate acts that bound two people together.
When his mouth was rinsed and he was ready for bed, I took his hand. “All done.”
Part of me wished I could’ve dressed him up in something cute, but neither of us had planned for this, so there was nothing I could do. But I did take some satisfaction in having found toys and movies he would like.
As we got to the bed, Joseph glanced up at me curiously again. It really had been a long time since anyone had taken care of him if even being tucked in made him hesitate. Kissing the top of his head, I ran my hand down his back. “Climb in.”
Directions seemed to make it easier for him to relax. Part of it might be his submission, but I had a feeling a bigger part was just making me happy. If it was what I wanted, he couldn’t be embarrassed about it because it was my idea to begin with.
As he climbed on the bed, I ran my hand down his back again and smiled as he rolled over and sighed, stretching out like he’d been waiting for sleep for hours. “My tired boy.”
Joseph huffed and curled up on his side as I pulled the covers over him. “Not tired.”
Sure he wasn’t.
As I sat down beside him on the bed, he closed his eyes and scooted closer. I took that to mean he wanted more cuddles, so I started slowly running my hand along his back. “Big deep breath for me and just relax.”
No matter what he’d said, he was more than ready for bed. As he exhaled, all the stress from the day seemed to come with it because he smiled and looked a thousand pounds lighter. “That’s a good boy. Just relax for Daddy and tomorrow we’re going to have a wonderful day.”
I was going to do whatever I could to give my cuddly boy the best day ever.
****
Let him sleep in or wake him up…one of the most important questions ever.
If I could have been confident he’d wake up on his own, relaxed and ready for Daddy to take control, I’d have let him sleep as long as he wanted. But I was a bit worried that he’d wake up second-guessing how I felt about being his Daddy.
Okay, waking him up it was.
I reminded myself as I headed upstairs that he’d already had nine hours and that was plenty. If he was tired later, I’d put him down for a nap. Even if he wasn’t yawning after lunch, that might be a good idea anyway. Until I knew he was caught up on sleep, I was going to watch him carefully.
I wasn’t careful how I walked up the stairs, but he was still asleep by the time I sat down on the bed beside him. He was sprawled across the mattress, tangled up in his covers like he’d been wrestling with them all night.
Was that how he usually slept or was it because of our conversation yesterday? Stroking his head, I watched as he smiled and nuzzled against my hand. “Time to wake up.”
He scrunched his face up and rolled over to bury his face in the mattress. That tucked him against me, but he didn’t seem to mind. “No.”
Chuckling, I ran my hand over his back, caressing my grumpy boy. “I guess you don’t want pancakes? That’s very sad.”
I wanted to set the tone right off the bat that I was Daddy today, not just his friend. If we started on that path first thing, there would be less for him to worry about. He stilled and slowly turned his head to peek up at me. “Pancakes?”
“Yes, you were such a good boy last night and went to bed without pouting too much, so I thought I’d give you a reward.” I kept up the tender touch as I smiled and continued to make it clear I was Daddy. “If you’re a good boy this morning, we’ll have a fun snack later when you watch cartoons.”
My sweet boy was easily bribed with junk food because he smiled and sat up, rubbing his hands over his face. “What kind of pancakes? Do we have stuff to go in them?”
I couldn’t imagine my friend Joseph questioning what kind of pancakes I’d made him, so I could only assume he wasn’t trying to be a grown-up this morning. Was that by choice or just because I’d started things off as his Daddy?
“I have blueberries, bananas, and some chocolate chips. What sounds good?” I leaned over and kissed his head as he blinked at me sleepily.
“Um, bananas and chocolate chips.” He blinked again, leaning into me. “Together.”
“That sounds yummy.” Not seeing anything to question how he was feeling, I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him into a tight hug. He wasn’t quite on my lap, but he draped himself around me as he snuggled even closer. “Okay, breakfast first and then we’ll get you dressed. Later I need to see what you have so I can pick out your clothes.”
There was the barest hint of tension that ran through him I wouldn’t have even noticed if I hadn’t been holding him so closely. When he gave me a quiet nod, I waited to see if he would mention anything else. Nothing.
Stroking my hand down his back, I turned and kissed his forehead. “Tell me what you were thinking.”
“Nothing.” He said it too sweetly.
“No lying to Daddy.” I caressed his neck before going back to the long plane of his back. “You don’t have to answer a question, but you can’t lie about it.”
There was a big difference between saying he wasn’t ready to talk about it and lying.
His body gave a silent huff and he shrugged. “I don’t know…I guess…I wasn’t sure if you were going to dress me or not.”
Was he shy in general or was it something about me?
“How do you feel about the idea that I would change your clothes?” I didn’t get an immediate response to my question, but his fingers started stroking over my chest in wandering circles.
I got another shrug, then he sighed. “Um, Daddies take care of their littles like that all the time.”
He was clearly leading up to something, so I answered, letting him have the time to process it. “Yes, there are usually intimate ways Daddies take care of their boys. Things like changing clothes, diapers, and bath times are what come to mind right off the bat.”